Audio streaming. It’s a good place to find new music, or provide background, other than that? Meh. I prefer the simplicity of physical media.
Network Transport vs. CD Transport
So I decided to conduct an experiment. I pulled the old Marantz cd player circa 1999, around $400 retail, from storage along with few CDs. Using a coax digital cable with a $4.97 rca to bnc adapter from amazon, I sat down to listen. I played the CD, the ripped version (AIFF) of that CD, and a Qobuz redbook version thru my zmac Mini. Long story short...the reason why I did it was because there is something missing in the Mac Mini sound quality and I got tired of trying to figure out what the heck is going on.
Anyways, that old cd player used as a transport into the Qutest DAC sounds considerably better than the Mac Mini that right now I will need a few days break before I can can listen to the Mac again. I figured (assumed) that a dedicated network transport will pretty much better the Mac Mini and be comparable or better than what I heard with Marantz player as transport. Eyeing Auralic G1, Lumin D2 and Lumin U1 Mini as candidates (I need wifi capability), will any of these be comparable or better than let’s say a decent CD transport feeding the Chord Qutest? For example a Cambridge CXC, or a used high end player?
I can go back to spinning CDs, but figured I don’t want to give up on streaming just yet.
What are your thoughts - Auralic G1, Lumin D2, Lumin U1 Mini, or a dedicated CD transport for high quality playback. Forget convenience, let’s talk purely sound quality...thanks!
System:
Rogue RP-1, Rogue ST-100, Martin Logan Montis, Chord Qutest dac.
Anyways, that old cd player used as a transport into the Qutest DAC sounds considerably better than the Mac Mini that right now I will need a few days break before I can can listen to the Mac again. I figured (assumed) that a dedicated network transport will pretty much better the Mac Mini and be comparable or better than what I heard with Marantz player as transport. Eyeing Auralic G1, Lumin D2 and Lumin U1 Mini as candidates (I need wifi capability), will any of these be comparable or better than let’s say a decent CD transport feeding the Chord Qutest? For example a Cambridge CXC, or a used high end player?
I can go back to spinning CDs, but figured I don’t want to give up on streaming just yet.
What are your thoughts - Auralic G1, Lumin D2, Lumin U1 Mini, or a dedicated CD transport for high quality playback. Forget convenience, let’s talk purely sound quality...thanks!
System:
Rogue RP-1, Rogue ST-100, Martin Logan Montis, Chord Qutest dac.
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- 75 posts total
Audio streaming. It’s a good place to find new music, or provide background, other than that? Meh. I prefer the simplicity of physical media.Agree, good way to look at it. Then go and buy the most uncompressed (most green boxes) CD version of it here http://dr.loudness-war.info/ which is usually the first release, or the vinyl. Cheers George |
Audio streaming. It’s a good place to find new music, or provide background, other than that? Meh. I prefer the simplicity of physical media. What type of DAC and streamer are you using? I believe streaming has come a long way. Your gear definitely depends on the quality of the sound. If I was to pick, definitely prefer listening to music on my turntable. With the Clearaudio Goldfinger Statement Cartridge, very tough to beat. Some audiophile specialist did comment on my DAC/streamer was impressed how well it sounded. Some never thought it was as possible. At the end of the day, like I said, equipment combination makes all of the difference when it comes to the sound you’re looking for. Happy listening😊 |
Update... The Aries G-1 has about 48hrs of play time by now. I’ve been running it round the clock non-stop. Initially it sounded a bit “new” but is evolving nicely. At this point I am running the Lightning DS with Qobuz and the HDD with my AIFF CD rips plugged into the rear of the Auralic. The Auralic sits on my wifi network. I am pleasantly surprised so far with both the build quality and the sonics of this streamer - my expectations were exceeded and not by a small margin. There is that silent black background that I wasn’t able to achieve with the Mac Mini, better dynamics, better resolution and separation of instruments, more space around individual instruments and singers, wider and deeper soundstage. I plan to run it in some more and do a listening session over the weekend. Next steps are to try the Auralic as a Roon endpoint using my Mac Mini as a Roon core. There are few things I’m not in love with but they’re all related to Lightning DS interface and have nothing to do with the sound. |
- 75 posts total